Cseszko returns to conduct MLO

MELBOURNE conductor and music educator Gyula Cseszko returns to lead the Moorabool Light Orchestra in its next concert on Sunday 8 September.

Cseszko will conduct the orchestra through a ‘Weiner Schnitzel’ program of compositions from Vienna by Mozart, Strauss and Doppler from 2pm at the Bacchus Marsh Public Hall.

It will feature Arielle Rose as solo violin and the orchestra’s own Fiona Wrzaszcz and Katie Apps as solo flutes.

The program will include Pizzicato Polka, Emperor Waltz, Radetzky March and Tritsch-Tratsch (Tittle-Tattle) Polka by Johann Strauss, Violin Concerto No. 4 in D by Wolfgang Mozart, and Andante and Rondo for two flutes and strings by Franz Doppler.

Cseszko has conducted more than 40 orchestras and eight choirs in a career spanning about 20 years, and conducted the Moorabool orchestra at its May 2022 concert.

Born of Hungarian-Dutch parents in Adelaide, he received a Master of Music in conducting from Melbourne University in 2003, studying under Professor John Hopkins. He has also studied with conductors Denis Vaughan, Nicholas Braithwaite, Shalom Ronly-Riklis, Carlo Felice Cillario and Carl Crossin.

He founded and was chief conductor/artistic director of La Fraternita di Solisti, his own professional chamber orchestra, for five years, and has also served as chief conductor of the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne University Biomedical Orchestra and the Hawthorn U3A Orchestra.

Cseszko’s other credits include conducting the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and the Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra, and guesting for the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Lawyers and Barrier Reef orchestras, and the Monash Medical Orchestra.

The Moorabool Light Orchestra was formed in 2013 and has more than 50 registered musicians.

It traditionally performs three major concerts each year – an autumn/winter concert, one in spring and a third over Christmas and summer.

Its prime purpose is to “provide a place for musicians of all ages from across the Moorabool Shire and neighbouring regions to connect, through all forms of orchestral music, by providing an educational and entertaining music program both for its members and its audiences.”

Tickets are $25 or $20 concessions and $10 for students, and are available online through Eventbrite or at the Bacchus Marsh Florist.